2016 Goals and Resolutions [Personal] + LINKUP ANNOUNCEMENT

We've finally come to the last installment of my annual resolutions and goals!  I have quite a bit, but my philosophy for the year is go BIG or go HOME!  I also have to remind myself that my word of the year is CHANGE, so things might be tough for a while.  In the end, it'll all be worth it!

For the final part of my goals, I'll be getting more personal.  We're going to talk about financial goals and personal goals.  I have to warn you that I'm going to be talking about actual financial numbers, so if that topic doesn't interest you or makes you uncomfortable, you might want to skip to the bottom for an exciting announcement.  Now, let's get to the goals!

Financial Goals

 

Spending freeze until my birthday (June 28)

I'm actually doing a spending freeze with my blogging buddy Sokphal, and we set up some ground rules (borrowed from the blog the Fashion Fast) :

1. No purchases of new outerwear, clothes, shoes, or accessories EXCEPT:
-- undergarments
-- socks
-- stockings/ tights
-- running shoes

2. Items cannot be requested as gifts nor can I direct anyone to purchase a wardrobe item for me.

3. Gifts and freebies can be accepted and kept.

4. There can be no exchanging of the gift or freebie, unless it is the wrong size or damaged.

5. Hand-me-downs should not be accepted unless they are framed as a gift.

6. All wardrobe items can be repaired, hemmed, dyed, or otherwise altered to provide variety.

7. Special occasions will not warrant a new outfit, unless I am requested as a bridesmaid and need to purchase a dress. (This also includes buying my wedding dress, which I got last week)

8. Should a wardrobe staple such as a white tank top or t-shirt become stained or damaged, it can be replaced. This only goes for necessities.

9. New clothing may be purchased if a situation arises where I cannot get home to access the things in my closet. This only includes extreme predicaments such as: if my luggage gets lost or delayed while traveling or my shirt gets thrown up on while riding the subway to work-- both of which, I sincerely hope, never occur.

10. Borrowing items from other people is permitted. Permanently expanding my wardrobe is not.

11. Necessary running purchases are allowed (new shoes, fuel, race registration, sport massages).  I'm allowing myself to buy new clothes for running within reason, while Sokphal is not.

12. I'm putting myself on a freeze for all non-necessities as well (this is broad, but things like new makeup, perfume, jewelry, purchases for the apartment, facials, mani/pedi, etc.)  Sokphal is keeping this just a clothing freeze, but I'm going a bit more extreme!

13. If either of us breaks our freeze, we have to buy the other something of their choosing worth $50.  Sokphal wants $50 to go towards a new pair of running shoes, and I want a new Energy Bra.

Even though six months seems like a long time, both of us are in a position where we don't need more clothes or things.  I'm always wanting to get rid of most of my clothes and downsize the things that I have- which I'll talk about below- so having this time line where I can't buy anything is really helpful.  

I'm in the process of house hunting now, so every penny that I save now counts.  I also like the though of having a spending freeze until June so that I don't make any rash decisions as soon as I move in (aka- buy #allthethings from Ikea and Homegoods).  This way, I can get all of my stuff in, do some planning, and then see what I actually need!

Save reward money (Discover, Ebates, Ibotta) for entire year

On my Discover card, I get cash back rewards for all of my purchases, and higher cash back for certain categories each month.  These are all redeemable on Amazon, so I usually just spend my balance when I buy something on there.  This year, I want to save that cash back and see how much I can save up. There's usually a 5% bonus on home improvements stores during the summer months, so this should really add up!

I also look at Ebates and Ibotta  (affiliate links) the same way.  Both are programs that give you money back for purchases you make and submit to the app.  I would like to see how much I can make on these two apps throughout the year!  I think it will also be interesting to see how quickly the money adds up as the year goes on.  Get ready for some graph action!

Save $15,000

If all of that goes to plan, I should be able to save a large chunk of my income.  Dan and I made a budget this year (first time ever and inspired by the Matrimoney Podcast) and came up with a goal of saving $15,000 this year.  We have direct deposit on our paychecks, and have money automatically moved to our savings account, so this should be really painless.  

I also have a personal goal of saving $6,000 in my own account. If I follow my no buy rules and not go crazy after my birthday, this should be relatively easy as well!  I'm telling you- making a budget is really life changing!  Now, I just have to stick to it!

No fast food, coffee shops, restaurants, bars

Dan and I both made a rule for ourselves that we wouldn't be going out to eat any more.  Since we are both doing the Whole30 (with some exceptions for him), this has been really easy in January.  We do have some built-in exclusions for this rule, like for our birthdays or if a friend we rarely see invites us.  I have some friends that live all over the country and world, so I wouldn't want to miss a chance to see them! 

The only downside to this rule is that we're spending a lot more on groceries lately.  I've been working hard on meal planning so that we always have enough food on hand, and it's really affecting our grocery bill!  If anyone has tips on how to save money at the grocery store (including where to find good coupons) I'm all ears.

Get a library card

I actually have a funny story about this.  I've been wanting to get a library card for years now, and could never motivate myself to actually go to the library and apply for one.  I shared my annual goals on my blog a few weeks ago, and that same day I stopped at the library and picked one up, along with a few books.  

Gretchen Rubin talks a lot about what tendency people are, and I am through and through an obliger.  As soon as I felt outward pressure to achieve something, I went and did it!  If anyone else out there is a fellow obliger and needs motivation to do something, I hope that this serves as a lesson for you.  Somehow get the outside world involved so that you feel an obligation to fulfill your goal, and it's much easier to actually do it!

Run commute at least once a week when it's warm

Where I'm living now, there is a trail that runs by my apartment to the downtown area, which is pedestrian-only and completely flat.  I don't take advantage of this nearly enough, and it's a great way to both get in my run and save some money.  I currently take the bus to work every day, which is $2.50 each way.  If I run commute just one way, once a week from March to June (when the weather is mild) I can save $45.  Even though that's not a huge amount of money, it's still money that I'm saving and also helps me get in a run that I won't have to worry about later in the day!  My goal is to run more than once a week so I can hopefully save even more.

 Personal Goals

Read 25 books

Last year, my goal was only to read 12 books.  I was easily reading two books a month for a while, but got lazy since I hit my goal early on.  This year, with the help of my library card, I'm hoping to double that number and even exceed my goal of 25!

De-clutter 10 items each month

It may be the trendy thing to do right now, but I love the idea of de-cluttering.  There are a lot of things that I won't want to move into a new house, so my plan is to get rid of 10 items every month.  This seems like a perfectly reasonable amount, so it'll be interesting to see what I'll be getting rid of!

Set up cleaning schedule

Dan and I are both very lazy when it comes to keeping our apartment clean, and that's something that I want to change this year- particularly if we have an entire house to keep clean.  We already made a schedule earlier this month, which we've been (loosely) following.  This is definitely something that I'm going to have to work on, and I'll share my schedule in the upcoming weeks!

Monthly cooking challenge

I love to cook and challenge myself in the kitchen, so each month I'm going to be giving myself a new challenge.  Last year I made a different cuisine each month which was really fun, and I want to do something similar this year.  For January, my challenge is completing the Whole30, which really pushed my out of my comfort zone as far as prep and cooking!

Link-up Announcement

And now on to exciting news- Kristen and I are starting a link-up that we're calling "What's New With You?"  You know when you haven't seen a friend for a long time, and run into them at the store, the first thing you say is "so, what's new with you?"  That's the idea behind the linkup- sharing what's going on in your life, what new things you're up to, what you're loving, anything! 

The rules are pretty straight forward:

-The linkup will be held on the first Thursday of every month, starting  February 4th (that's next Thursday!)

-Please link up to Kristen and me somewhere in your post and share our button (code is below- just copy and paste at the end of your post!)

<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.gretchruns.com/" rel="nofollow" title="What's New With You"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFuFRpkAjIhAzlseewG0h7WjWYXTvJTqrMPovT3UyZ1jUxsGpHe3wXBZWRj5XtLmDOjKqE93mqCIqPbPfRHLza6NpQT87Fk9z_p0GjHfNQTsi0ukonfHkOa4HsCeL50LipRCxBJd-Z4P4/s1600/k5.jpg" alt="What's New With You" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

-Any type of post is allowed- share your favorite post of the month, or a post saying what you're up to!  This is a great chance to share those Currently posts, or monthly goals, or highlights from the month.  You have complete freedom!

-Not mandatory, but it's always fun to check out the other blogs on the linkup and share the love!  Maybe you'll even find a new blogging buddy who will want to ask you, "so, what's new with you?"

That's it!  I hope that you'll all join in next Thursday.  I also want to send out a huge shout-out and thank you to Gina for this suggestion!  When she saw my post on my blogging goals, she immediately messaged me and suggested getting together with Kristen to do a link-up.  She's been like the fairy godmother of blogging for me- always there to help me out and give me suggestions on growing my blog (and my closet).  Thank you, Gina, and please go check out her blog if you haven't!


Who's joining the link-up!?
Any tips for saving money at the grocery store?
Does anyone else want to join the spending freeze? 

linking up with Amanda, Gina, Allie, Kate and Catherine